On demand file sync download

fredbacon
Currently, when you sync your attached files via WebDAV, you have to either sync everything or nothing. There are some (not uncommon) situations where this isn't an ideal option.

It would be nice to have the option to always upload new attachments to the dav server, but download them only when requested. For instance, if you have multiple computers, one may not be used as frequently as all of the others. As a consequence, it may be several months behind on downloading new attachments. When circumstances require you to use that computer, you may want to upload any new attachments without downloading everything else. (Think older computer being used while newer computer is returned for repairs.)

If that were implemented, then it would also be nice to have "on demand" downloads of attachments where a file is only downloaded from the server when the user attempts to access it.
  • amacom73
    I would definitely like a feature like this--in trying to goad all my co-workers over to Zotero, several are resistant to file syncing and don't want to clutter their hard drives with PDFs they don't need, but they do occasionally need access to individual PDFs--this annoys the daylights out of me, but is not, in the end, an unreasonable request.

    Because existing file sync is all zipped, making individual file access impossible from a practical standpoint, I've had to engineer a somewhat elaborate workaround using networked storage of one local instance of the shared library, coupled with network-directed smart folders on individual users' desktops.

    "On demand" syncing of individual attachments on double click or right click would basically solve this problem and would, I think, ease transition to Zotero for workgroups.
  • mwayat
    I just thought the same thing. Is the function already embedded or is there any workaround?

    I hope someone could respond to the request.

    Anyway, thank you very much for everyone contributing to Zotero's development.
  • fcheslack
    You can configure Zotero to download files "as needed" in the sync preferences (Gear menu > Preferences > Sync)
  • mwayat
    Thank you very much, fcheslack. I'll check it out.
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